The 2011 Milwaukee Heart Walk is taking place this Sunday, October 16th at Veterans Park on Milwaukee’s lakefront. Gates open to the public at 9:00am. The Heart Walk is the American Heart Association’s premier fundraising event. However, the Heart Walk also provides an excellent opportunity to educate people about ways they can live longer, healthier lives free of heart disease and stroke. Admission is free and there are all sorts of fun activities for the whole family.

Heart Walk organizers expect nearly 4000 walkers to participate in this year’s event, with a fundraising goal of $450,000. These donations will fund community outreach activities, educational opportunities, as well as heart disease and stroke research. In the past five years, the American Heart Association has spent more than $15 million funding 139 research studies in the state of Wisconsin alone! Research funded by the American Heart Association has led to major advances such as CPR, pacemakers, bypass surgery and life-extending drugs.